On Saturday, top-ranked Clemson defeated rival Florida State 23-13 to claim the ACC Atlantic Division title and secure a spot in the ACC Championship game.

Here is what we heard after the game.

Head coach Dabo Swinney gave credit to Clemson’s crowd.

“Our crowd was awesome. They hung in there with us because obviously it wasn’t the start we wanted, but our crowd hung in there and they were amazing down the stretch, so I really appreciate our fans and the environment that they give us to play in,” Swinney said. “This was a big one, and I could not be more happy for our team.”

Swinney was especially proud of how his team fought through adversity like champions to find a way to win the game.

“Our guys never quit,” Swinney said.  We made the plays that had to happen and we finished. That was championship football. That was two teams with the same goal. Everybody knew what was on the line, and I just couldn’t be more proud of our team. That’s our fourth division championship in seven years, and it is good to be able to have an opportunity to be able to get back to the ACC Championship game and to have the opportunity to represent the Atlantic Division. We look forward to that, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry and more work to do between now and then.”

Quarterback Deshaun Watson rushed for just over 100 yards and threw for 297 yards in a touchdown to help the Tigers cinch the division title.

“We accomplished one of our top five goals on the team,” Watson said. “We had to be able to win the division and get past this team and that’s what we did.”

With the score tied and 11:59 on the clock, Watson and the team huddled up during a commercial break to share some encouraging words.

“I just huddled the guys up and told them I love them, and this what we came here to do. Let’s have fun and win championships. Let’s make a play and do what we did in the fourth quarter. We just kept moving forward.”

“We all just started laughing and he (Watson) just looked at us and smiled. He was like, “this is what we worked for all summer. This is what championships are made of.’ Championship teams, they find a way to win,” offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain said.

For most of the starters on Clemson’s team, Saturday’s victory was their first over their ACC rival. Defensive end Shaq Lawson said it was great to get the win after experiencing a devastating loss last season.

“It was crazy it was a big win for us and for the program. We had a disappointing loss last year, and we knew they were in our way for what we’re trying to work for, so we had to get the W and that’s what we did,” Lawson said.

However, the team knows that there is still a lot of work left to be done to reach the ultimate goal.

“We’ve just got to take it game by game to be honest. I know that’s the coaches’ answer, but it’s serious. We’ve got to take it game by game. We’ve got Syracuse next week, and that’s a conference game,” center Jay Guillermo said.